This is what your body should be doing during a putt:

§         Feet, Ankles, Knees, Legs, Hips - Nothing

§         Shoulders - Moving on a vertical plane (more on this later)

§         Arms and Wrists - Moving as a result of the shoulder movement, but there should be no independent movements from these muscles

§         Head - Nothing

As you can see from this....there is hardly any movement needed in a putting stroke. The only movement needed to hit putts the required distance and direction consistently is from your arms, wrists and shoulders.

Now before we take a look at the parts of your body that move when putting let's take a look at the ones that don't....and we'll start with the head first.

A lot of people move their head when putting -- in fact I'd say that most people move their head when putting.

But to be the best putter you can be your head should not move at all as you're stroking a putt. Because if your head moves when you're stroking your putts it will add power to your putts. And that extra power is something you wouldn't have factored in when you're calculating the best speed and line for your putt.

So it's very important that you learn to stroke your putts without moving your head.

Now let's look at your lower body.

Your feet, ankles, legs and hips should NOT move at all when you putt. You need to keep your lower body still when you're putting. If you move your lower body when you're putting then, again, you'll add power to your putt which you haven't counted on.

OK, so you now know that your head and lower body should remain perfectly still as you're putting. Let's now look at the parts of your body that should move when you're putting.

When you putt using the pendulum putting method your shoulders, arms, wrists and hands should all move as a unit. But the main controller of this action should be from your shoulders and the way you move your shoulders should control your putters path.

     There are two main ways to move your shoulders as you putt.

1. You can move your shoulders on a tilted horizontal plane (i.e. they turn around) just like the way you use them for every other shot in golf.

2. You can move your shoulders in a vertical plane.

If you move your shoulders on a tilted horizontal plane then the putters path should be curved -- so long as you don't manipulate your arms, wrists and hands. And if you move your shoulders on a vertical plane then the putters path will be straight back and through -- again, as long as you don't manipulate anything else.

So which shoulder movement do I suggest?

Both!

Let me explain.

I teach my online students to move their shoulders on a vertical plane which naturally moves the putter straight back and through. And while they're doing this I get them to practice keeping the putter face aligned squarely to the starting line of the putt at all times in the stroke. BUT I only get them to practice this stroke for putts of up to 10 feet in length. And I only get them to practice this at home....NEVER at the golf course.

When you practice your putting mechanics you should ALWAYS do it at home. I'll explain later why and what you should do at the golf course, but for now please understand that mechanics should only be practiced at home.

Now you may be wondering why I want you  to practice a straight back and through putting stroke for 10 footers or less.

Well it's simply because for putts less than 10 feet getting the ball to start on the chosen line is very important to the outcome of the putt. But for putts further than 10 feet from the starting line of the putt it becomes less important.

DO YOU KNOW....The best putters in the world hole just over 25% of their putts from the 10 - 20 foot range.

As you've just read, the odds of holing a putt in the 10 - 20 foot range are not great, even for the best putters in the world. And outside of 20 feet the odds of success drop away quite sharply. Which again shows that distance control for longer putts is more important than the starting line of a putt.

So if one of my students is faced with an 18 foot putt and they move their putter face in a slight arc fashion along with a tilted horizontal shoulder plane I really don't care. What I'm more interested in seeing is how far the ball has traveled.

And at the end of the day putter path is not a topic that needs a lot of attention or debate.

Why?

Simply because of this FACT...
 

Important Note: The putter face angle that you contact the ball with has 4 times more influence on the starting direction of your putt than the putters path.

So if you want to consistently start the ball on the line you've chosen then you should concentrate on getting the putter face angle square at impact much more than you should worry about the putter path.

Ironically however, through experimentation I've found that one of the easiest ways of practicing keeping the putter face angle square to the starting line of the putt is to do it while taking the putter straight back and through. That's another important reason why I teach my to practice a straight back and through putting stroke for 10 footers or less....it kills two birds with one stone!

Plus this practice will influence their longer strokes as well -- helping them to start their ball more consistently on the line they want. But as the strokes get longer and longer then naturally and automatically there will be some shoulder rotation causing the putter to move on an arc path.

And that's fine with me.

Don't ever get caught up in this straight back, straight through versus arc argument. It's a waste of time, because as you've already learned,  the putters path has such a small influence on putting success.

OK let me sum this up,  what I teach (and indirectly what I think you should do  ).

I get my students to practice taking the putter straight back and straight through while keeping the putterface square at all times in the putting stroke. This is achieved by moving the shoulders in a vertical manner and the arms, wrists and hands moving in unison.

But I only get golfers to practice this for putts of less than 10 feet. And only at home.

For putts longer than 10 feet they can let there natural habits take over. In other words, they'll have some degree of arc in their stroke. But as I've said, for putts over 10 feet in length distance control is much more important than having a straight back, straight through putting stroke.

Now no matter what type of stroke you're trying to groove at home if you go out to the golf course trying to take the putter straight back and through or on an arc then you're going to putt badly.

You should do all of your mechanical practice at home. On the golf course you want to stroke the ball without conscious thought.

I hope that makes sense to you. It makes sense to me and it's helping my students to consistently putt better than they ever have before.